Vibration-suppressed bobbin assemblies



Jan. 26, 1965 s. F. ADAMS ETAL VIBRATION-SUPPRESSED BOBBIN ASSEMBLIES Filed April 15, 1962 ADAMS GUERIN INVENTORS ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,157,262 VlBRA'HN-SUPPRESSED ASSEMBLEES Samuel E'. Adams, Greenvilie, S5., and Robert l. Guerin,

Providence, RL, assignors to American Paper Tube Company, Woonsoeket, lil, a corporation of Rhode Isiand Filed Apr. lf3, 1962, Ser. No. li'fiil 3 Ciaims. (Cl. 4Q- 416.23m

The present invention relates to improvements in supports for yarn and like textile materials which are to be wound at high speeds, and, in one particular aspect, to novel and improved stabilized bobbin-spindle assemblies of simple low-cost constructions in which troublesome non-linear vibrations and noise are suppressed with such effectiveness that operating speeds and productivity may be vastly increased.

As is well known in textile machinery art, packages of yarns or other textile threads are commonly collected upon spindle-mounted tubular cores or bobbins for further processing and dispensing, it being important both that such bobbins lend themselves to rotations at high speed and that they be quickly and surely receivable on and removable from their mounting spindles. Over the course of the years, bobbin and spindle assemblies have assumed a variety of structural shapes and have been fabricated of many different kinds of materials, depending upon the intended applications; one preferred construction, to which the present teachings are particularly applicable with distinct advantage, involves a generally tubular bobbin which mates loosely with an associated spindle over substantially its entire length and which is mechanically supported by the spindle only near its upper extremity. In such a construction, the rounded tip of a verticallyoriented spindle is mated with a conically-tapered inner surface of the surrounding tubular bobbin, making essentially a circular line contact with it which is advantageous vin that the coupling may be made quickly and easily is then not so tight as to interfere substantially with doiiing of the bobbin While at the same time suiiicing to transmit torques needed to rotate the bobbin and its textile loading. However, this form of coupling has certain of the aspects of a ball-and-socket connection, in that the bobbin may pivot about the rounded tip of the spindle, and the lower portion of the bobbin tends to wobble erratically, particularly at high speeds. The resulting noise is highly disturbing, and the non-linear vibrations may be of such violence that they can impair the winding operations and can have destructive intluences upon the bobbins and their spindle mountings. Such wobble, or nonlinear vibration of the bobbin about the spindle, is possible because of the loose fit which the bobbin makes with the spindle, this loose fit being dictated both by the need for clearance which facilitates doi-ling of the bobbin and by the need for positive clearance which prevents the bobbin from jamming with yarn initially wrapped about the base of the spindle before the bobbin is set in place. In accordance with the present teachings, however, the prior relatively low upper limits of bobbin speed are readily surpassed and troublesome noise and non-linear vibrations are very effectively suppressed by stabilizing provisions of remarkable and surprising simplicity, without recourse to complex and costly accessory dampers of conventional types, and without involving radical re-design of either the spindle or bobbin.

It is one of the objects of the present invention, therefore, to provide novel and improved textile bobbin assemblies in which non-linear vibrations and noise are suppressed and, substantially higher speeds of operation and production are promoted, and in which the customary ease and certainty with which bobbins may be mounted on and removed from spindles are not impaired.

A further object is to provide stabilized textile bobbins of low-cost and uncomplicated construction which dampen the troublesome effects of non-linear vibrations induced during winding operations.

By way of a summary account of practice of this invention in one of its aspects, there is added to a common form of tubular impregnated laminated paper bobbin, having `a conically-tapered seat insert near its upper end, a tubular stabilizer member in the form of a substantially cylindrical tubular bushing which is aflixed concentrically within the tubular bobbin near its lower end but above the level to which the acorn or like portion of a mated spindle can project. The inner diameter of the tubular stabilizer member is precisely machined or otherwise formed with a diameter but a few thousandths of an inch greater than the outer shank diameter of the cooperating cylindrical rounded-tip spindles with which the bobbin is used, the inner diameter of the balance of the bobbin below the level of its upper seat being materially in excess of that of the stabilizer member. Upon occurrence of characteristic wobble, or erratic non-linear vibration, of even relatively low amplitude, inner surfaces of the tubular stabilizer member impact against the outer surfaces of the mated cylindrical spindle thereby rapidly dissipating the energy of such vibration effects even at speeds about double those which are currently a practical maximum.

Although the features of this invention which are considered to be novel are set forth in the appended claims, further details as to preferred practices of the invention, as well as the further objects and advantages thereof, may be most readily comprehended through reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,'wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partly cross-sectioned view of a mated bobbin and spindle assembly, including a stabilizer in accordance with the present teachings;

FIGURE 2 illustrates the angular displacements between a spindle and proximate portions of two bobbins having stabilizers at diiferent distances from the spindle tip; and

FIGURE 3 is a partly cross-sectioned View of a bobbin and spindle assembly in which vibration-suppressing effects are promoted at the base of the bobbin.

The apparatus portrayed in FIGURE l includes a spindle structure 4 of a known type wherein an outer cylindrical metal sleeve 5 is rotated about a stationary central support post 6, on upper and lower bearings 7 and 8, the support post in turn being mounted upon the usual associated machine framework. At its lower end, the rotatable spindle sleeve is driven at high speeds by way of the whirl 9, and at its uppermost end is capped by a rounded tip lit which mates with the conically-tapered seat surfaces 1l of a seat insert l2 which is fixed within the surrounding tubular bobbin i3. The sloping and shaping of the respective spindle tip and bobbin seat surfaces are such that an essentially line-type small-area contact is deeloped between them, this being a condition which has long been known to be advantageous in that the bobbin tends to seat itself accurately on the spindle and yet does not lock in place so tig! tly as to impair its doiiing. Driving torques can be transmitted from spindle to bobbin very satisfactorily through this line-contact socketing alone, and it is then unnecessary that the bobbin make contact with the spindle elsewhere. The latter fact is important because it is diflicult to apply and remove bobbins which have more than one portion dimensioned to contact the spindle firmly, and, moreover, it is costly and troublesome to machine several spaced bobbin surfaces so that they are accurately concentric and have precise dimensions needed for tight lit with a spindle. Accordingly, the bobbin 't3 is of a loose-fitting or "iloating type throughoutr its length below the upper seat 12,*although a tubular reducing section 14 is recessed within its base to prevent very great play and, generally, to adapt bobbinsY of various largesizes to ,use with a slender spindle of a standard diameter. The seat insert 12 near the topof the bobbin serves this same purpose, of adapting diierent sizes ofbobbins to use with a standard small-diameter spindle,

but it should be understood that in some constructions, such as those ,ofwooden bobbins and certain types of laminated paper bobbins, the interior bobbin surfaces, themselves may be directly proportioned in accordance withthe spindle dimensions.v Inmany instances the illustrated form of bobbin is much preferred, however,.be

cause the impregnated laminated paper barrel 15, having sheet-metal'shields 16 and 17 at its ends, is of particularly light weight and is highly durable while lending itself to relatively low-cost fabrication.

When a tubular bobbin is to be applied to a spindle for a winding operation (which, for present purposes, is also meant to include spinning or twisting or the like), the yarn or other flamentary-type material is first conventionally secured to the spindle by the wrapping of a few to be maintained?,Y Further,k theistabilizer clearance 21,

though minute, is suicientrto permit the rounded-tip spindle to pass through it readily, both on installation and 'lizer 20 ata relatively short distance 22fromthe fulcrumming position aboutspindle tip 10-must tilt or skew through a certain angle 24 before the stabilizer 20 Will engage the side of spindle The radial gap 23 is then a maximum on one side of the spindle, the clearance (not shownlon the opposite side being zero (i.e., the stabilizer and spindlehave contacted one another). Another'bobbin tube, 26', having a stabilizer insert 32 fulcrummed a at a greater distance 34, need be skewed by onlya relaturns about the spindle or about the so-called acorn 18 of a suitable material provided nearits base for this. purpose. Acorn sleeve section 18 is of relatively shorttaxial length but nevertheless projects inwardly of the -base of the bobbinand therefore dictates an adequate full radial clearance,` 19, which Will enable the base of the bobbin to be slipped on 'and off Withoutbinding. Commonly, therradial .Y clearance 1-9 is at least between about 5 and 12 thousandths of an inch to insure that such binding will not occur. It has been found that spindle and bobbin ,assem-V blies of the foregoing type will permit erratic non-linear movements .of the bobbin to develop, these being the result of the ball-and-socket type support and therspindlebobbin clearances. As rotational speeds are sought to be increased to improveV production rates, the wobbling tively smaller angle, 36, for a maximum'radial gap 35, equal to gap 2,3, to be developed. From what has been said, it isyobviously desirable that the radial width of motions become moreintense and severe and create int 1 tolerable noise andv impactingof bobbin and spindle.y While the, only satisfactory solutions to this critical -prob,

lemwould ybe thought to lie in the use of auxiliary darnpf ing vprovisions of` conventional types, or in the undesirable rigid clamping of the bobbin and spindle, it has instead beenovercomein accordance with the present invention by the surprisingly simple practice of introducing a lowcost tubular stabilizer sleeve, such as the stabilizer member 20, between the bobbin and spindle at a position Well below the upper socketing and above -the position of the acorn, and by providing a very minute (ex.,23 thousandths),full radial clearance 21 between the inner surface of the stabilizer member 20 and the concentric outer surface ofthe spindle 5. Slight angular skewing of thev bobbin during the initial attempted build-up-Vof the aforementioned non-linear vibrations causes the inner surfaces of the stabilizer member'20 to contact'the proximate spindle surfaces, and the energy'of such Yvibrations Ais immediately. absorbed by lthefspindle, stabilizer member and.bobbin. Preferably, the stabilizer. member is', also fabricated. of a iibrous laminated paper or cardboard material-.which vtends to absorbl the impacts :without wearingor deforming rapidly. Theminute ,clearance 21 between Vthe stabilizer 20 and spindle 5 is effective to limit impacting of the ybobbinwith the spindle to the stabilizer annular clearance between the stabilizer'tubeandspindle to be'large enough to permit the bobbin and spindle to be matedv and separated easily and yetsmall enough to in hibit as much *as possible vthe erratic non-lineari vibrations; the average Vradial-clearance yof but a few (eX. 2-3 )`i thousandtbs of an inch satisfies these requirements, and, l

while a fulcrumming distance 22 of aboutiive inches is also entirely satisfactory, even less vibration is permissible with a fulcrumming distance 34 of about7-8 inches.

Equally minute clearance between the spindle and bobbin'very close'to the fulcrumming ror socketing position fails `to produce the same benefit because the bobbin must then wobble-.so violently as to develop the-very conditions soughtto be avoided before the 'spindle and bobbin can be made to impact. The construct-ion appearing in FIG` URE 3 rincludes a socket connectionwhich quite incidentally toits main lpurposes, has such characteristics:V

There, the bobbin 25, is also formed yof `a thin light-weight i tube or barrel, 26, having metal end caps Z7Jand 28;

' and having a seat insert, 29, wherein the upper conicallyshaped surface 30 mates with the rounded-tip 10 of spindle 5. Below the region of shaped surface 30,- the seat insert has a short tubular extension 31 the bore of which may clear, the concentric spindle surfaces by as little as two thousandths of an inch, Vthis extension being provided in accordance with knownrprior practice so that it may engage the spindlewhenever the bobbin is loosened from and'rises in relation to the tip of the spindle. At the latter times, the resulting frictional forcestend to prevent the bobbin from'rising further. However, so long yas the bobbin isV seated onthe spindle tip, which is the usual operating condition, the extension 31 is ineffective to suppress any vibrational'tendencies, and these can presentthe aforementioned obstacles to high-speed operation. Accordingly, the; tubular stabilizer member 32 is introduced near thejbase ofthe bobbin, just above the level 'to whichthe acornsection 18 of the spindle projects; lts annularv clearance 33 withf the spindle `5 is but about ..2-3-'thousandths of an inch, radially, and its function surfaces only. YPermissible amplitudes of erratic bobbin n movement 4are restricted-to very low levels, and thevibrational energy involved is dissipated asa-result of the impacting, suchthat the bobbinslateral movements .are damped and its rotation is stabi1ized.. Noise and violent motion are so electively suppressed that bobbins of the illustrated type-may be .spun in production operation at about.23,000r.p.m.-, whichis about double the prior maximum Vpractical speeds. It should beunderstood thatl the tubular suppresser 20,.being disposed above .the level of the spindle acord, .cannot interfere with yarnfwrapping and therefore permits the needed large radial clearance,19

yisa's described earlier herein with reference to the stal'stabilizer member 32 may then serve this added function.

Typical stabilizer, members may be about an inch long, in bobbins having a totallentgh of about twelve inches,

and may be secured to the interior of the bobbins by an adhesive.

Although cylindrical spindles have been referred to, there are numerous known constructions in which spindles are of a different shape, such as a truncated conical conliguration, and the present teachings are of course applicable to these as well. Likewise, although vibration-suppressed bobbins having pivotal suspensions near their ripper ends have been specifically discussed, there are also known forms of bobbins, spools, and the like which are driven nearer their lower ends and which yet have certain freedoms for erratic pivotal motions in the nature of wobble near their upper ends, and it should be apparent that the disclosed stabilizer members may in those instances be advantageously exploited near these upper ends.

While specilic practices have been described, and while preferred embodiments constructed of preferred materials have been described, it should be understood that various changes, modiiications, additions and substitutionp may be elfected by those skilled in the art without departure from these teachings, and it is aimed in the appended claims to embrace all such variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A high-speed vibration-suppressed tubular bobbin structure for mounting in combination with an elongated rotatable upright spindle of predetermined dimensions and substantially inflexible construction and having a rounded tip and an acorn portion at the base about which windings of iilamentary materials are started, comprising an elongated thin-walled tubular barrel itting loosely about the spindle, a tubular seat insert member iixed concentrically within said barrel near the upper end thereof and shaped to mate with the rounded tip of the spindle in a ball-and-socket-type connection, and a generally cylindrical tubular stabilizer insert member of laminated paper tubing concentrically within said thin-walled barrel below and spaced from said seat insert member and above the level of said acorn portion of the spindle, said tubular stabilizer insert member having a dimensioned central opening the surfaces of which form a radial clearance of about 2-3 thousandths of an inch with the spindle, whereby non-linear vibrations of the thin-walled barrel pivotally about said connection are dampened by impacting of the stabilizer insert member against the substantially inflexible spindle.

2. A high-speed vibration-suppressed tubular bobbin structure for mounting in combination with an elongated rotatable upright spindle of predetermined dimensions and substantially inilexible construction and having a rounded tip and an acorn portion at the base, comprising an elongated thin tubular bobbin of relatively lightweight construction having an internal seat near the upper end thereof shaped to mate in a ball-and-socket-type connection with the spindle near its tip and having an inner substantially cylindrical surface at a relatively large distance below said seat which is of cross-section greater than the cross-sections of portions of the spindle above it and forming a relatively small clearance of but about 2-3 thousandths of an inch with the mated spindle, said surface terminating above the level to which said acorn portion of the spindle projects into the lower end of the bobbin, and the portions of the thin tubular bobbin below said surface forming a clearance about the acorn portion of the substantially inflexible spindle which is greather than said relatively small clearance, whereby non-linear vibrations of said thin lightweight bobbin pivoting about said connection on the spindle are dampened by impacting of said surfaces against the mated substantially inflexible spindle.

3. The combination with an elongated rotatable upright spindle of substantially inflexible construction including a rounded tip, of an elongated thin and lightweight tubular bobbin having an internal seat near the upper end thereof shaped to mate in a ball-and-socket-type connection with said spindle near said tip and having a relatively loose lit with said spindle, below said seat, and a stabilizer member in the form of a substantially cylindrical tubular insert of laminated paper tubing concentrically within said lightweight bobbin below and spaced from said seat, said paper tubing stabilizer insert having a central opening the surfaces of which form a radial clearance of but a few thousandths of an inch with the mated spindle, and means adhesively securing said paper tubing insert to the interior of said bobbin at a position near the base thereof wherein said insert is both spaced inwardly of the lower end of the bobbin by an amount needed for the wrapping of wound material about the base of the spindle when winding is about to be started and is spaced from said seat by at least about live inches, whereby non-linear vibrations of the lightweight bobbin pivotally about said connection on the substantially inflexible spindle at high speeds are suppressed by impacting of the stabilizer member against the spindle.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 192,493 6/77 Draper 242--4621 2,241,118 5/41 Cotchett 57-130 2,304,370 12/42 Neal 57-130 2,536,618 l/51 Wood 57-130 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, JOSEPH P. STRIZAK,

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiners. 

1. A HIGH-SPEED VIBRATION-SUPPRESSED TUBULAR BOBBIN STRUCTURE FOR MOUNTING IN COMBINATION WITH AN ELONGATED ROTATABLE UPRIGHT SPINDLE OF PREDETERMINED DIMENSIONS AND SUBSTANTIALLY INFLEXIBLE CONSTRUCTION AND HAVING A ROUNDED TIP AND AN ACORN PORTION AT THE BASE ABOUT WHICH WINDINGS OF FILAMENTARY MATERIALS ARE STARTED, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED THIN-WALLED TUBULAR BARREL FITTING LOOSELY ABOUT THE SPINDLE, A TUBULAR SEAT INSERT MEMBER FIXED CONCENTRICALLY WITHIN SAID BARREL NEAR THE UPPER END THEREOF AND SHAPED TO MATE WITH THE ROUNDED TIP OF THE SPINDLE IN A BALL-AND-SOCKET-TYPE CONNECTION, AND A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL TUBULAR STABILIZER INSERT MEMBER OF LAMINATED PAPER TUBING CONCENTRICALLY WITHIN SAID THIN-WALLED BARREL BELOW AND SPACED FROM SAID SEAT INSERT MEMBER AND ABOVE THE LEVEL OF SAID ACORN PORTION OF THE SPINDLE, SAID TUBULAR STABILIZER INSERT MEMBER HAVING A DIMENSIONED CENTRAL OPENING THE SURFACES OF WHICH FORM A RADIAL CLEARANCE OF ABOUT 2-3 THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH WITH THE SPINDLE, WHEREBY NON-LINEAR VIBRATIONS OF THE THIN-WALLED BARREL PIVOTALLY ABOUT SAID CONNECTION ARE DAMPENED BY IMPACTING OF THE STABILIZER INSERT MEMBER AGAINST THE SUBSTANTIALLY INFLEXIBLE SPINDLE. 